The e-know bill introduced by Congressman Markey, would create consumer right to access the retail electric usage and rate in real time at 15-minute intervals, and up to 2 years of historical data. In a recent meeting with UTC staff, Rep. Markey's staff confirmed our reading bill: that it does not require that utilities themselves provide consumers their real-time usage of energy; rather, if the smart meter installed at consumer’s premises has the capability to provide real-time readings at 15-minute intervals, then the consumer has the right to get that information directly from the meter either through a HAN or other third-party application, but it is up to the consumer to take the necessary steps to actually get the information. If the smart meter does not have that capability, the utility is only required to provide energy usage information as expeditiously after the time of collection as reasonably feasible. Historical energy usage data does not need to be this granular.

This means that it would not be necessary for the utility to enhance their network capacity to carry and retransmit the increased data demands. Moreover, the bill would not require that utilities which have already installed smart meters to retrofit those meters to make 15-minute reads possible. The purpose of the bill is simply to provide consumers the incentive to respond to price signals in as near real-time as possible, and provide a record of energy use sufficient to conduct their own assessment of how to save energy overall.